All Creatures Great and Small named Yorkshire's best TV show ever

TV show All Creatures Great and Small named Yorkshire's best

IT'S official - the classic show All Creatures Great and Small has been voted Yorkshire’s greatest television show of all time.

In a major poll, conducted by Dalesman magazine to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of regional television in Yorkshire, viewers were asked to name their favourite show either set or made in the county.

More than 3,000 votes were cast - and the veterinary drama starring Christopher Timothy and Robert Hardy and filmed largely in the Yorkshire Dales was the runaway winner, taking 7.3 per cent of the overall vote.

In second place was the world’s longest running sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine, with 5.6 per cent and ITV’s Heartbeat, filmed at Goathland on the North York Moors came third, with five percent.

Actor Christopher Timothy, who played James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small, expressed delight that the drama had topped the poll - and said he had spoken to people who were considering a remake.

He said the long-running series remained much-loved thanks to the man he played on screen, Thirsk vet Alf Wight, who was better known by his pen name James Herriot.

The series endured, he told the Dalesman: “Because Alf Wight was first and foremost a great storyteller, bottom line, he told great stories.

"From all the interesting people Alf had spoken to from all over the country, particularly vets, Alf wrote their stories down.

"His stories are universal, they’re about real people in real situations, they are written of a time when it was seemingly gentler, easier and less violent. That is what it feels like, people in my generation still hold on to those values and are glad how the series was portrayed.

“Alf Wight was remarkable, and I keep in touch regularly with his children Rosie and Jim, I love them dearly and I owe them.

"I am very proud and honoured to be associated with the programme and delighted it was and still is so popular. It was one of the most magnificent opportunities any actor could be given.”

He added: "I have spoken to people who are thinking about it, but everyone including Rosie and Jim need to be satisfied that it will honour their dad. It has to be true to the original.”

Jim Wight, son of Alf, said: "Wherever I go, especially when I’m doing after-dinner speeches etc, people always say to me what a most wonderful series it was, including the Americans."

He added: "Everyone wants to know why they have not repeated it on TV."

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